Trophy Hunter, Veterinarian

Chance Encounter With a Trophy Hunting Veterinarian

One of the themes of my travels has been odd things happening at gas stations. In South Dakota, after fueling up, I entered to use a restroom and found a huge menagerie of stuffed and mounted wildlife, many in fierce poses, like a black bear under attack by a lion, and there was a large variety of species, from an African elephant and lion, to ostrich, bears, raccoons, virtually every type of predator, antelope, big horn sheep and prairie dogs. I learned that the station owner was a veterinarian/trophy hunter, and that by chance he was there that day. I fetched my camera, and though this participant does not want to be identified, he was very open in our interview.

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Interview Excerpts

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On being a trophy hunter and a veterinarian

Taking a Moment with the Animals

On the idea that killing animals protects animals from being killed

Promoting killing animals while condemning abortion

A religious rational for killing animals

On the appeal of hunting, and choosing to kill instead of photograph

Comparing concerns about killing animals for sport with concerns about human abortions